budaatum:


Sound rather scammish to me. All they need to do to scam your money is not issue your passport in a year! If I were to exaggerate, it would be like the mechanic claiming your car would be impounded if they don't fix it in a week.

Get us the ministers email address, so we can all send him a link to this please with heading "Is The Nigerian Embassy In Washington DC Scamming Nigerians? Add emails of others of others who might question this for us too.

Something might be done about it if we inundate them and make it an issue.

Thanks for your concern, I have found and sent messages to the following email addresses below.

nis.servicom@nigeriaimmigration.gov.ng

oa@nigeriaimmigration.gov.ng

cis-evisa@immigration.gov.ng

expiredppt@immigration.gov.ng

info@foreignaffairs.gov.ng


I am really hoping for a positive turnaround because I do not anticipate another trip down to DC.

MODS DISGUY and JUSTWISE please help me amplify my request.

Please I would also need input and support from any other Nigerians who have renewed their passports through the DC office.


cc: DisGuy, justwise

On an almost weekly basis, we keep hearing that our supposed Interior Minister repeatedly issues decrees to simplify the ease of obtaining a passport, but for where? Nigerians in passport offices continue to act as stumbling blocks. They take profit in making a simple process as painful as possible, just to frustrate you into financially settling for assistance

This complaint is about the Nigerian Embassy in Washington D.C. where I had applied for a passport renewal almost a year ago.

I applied for this renewal on June 11th 2023, and captured October 23rd 2023.

After completing the biometrics, they assured me that the passport will be received in the mail within 3 months.

We are now wrapping up six months post capture with no passport received.

I have tried to call them more than a hundred times over this period, but everything goes straight to voicemail. I have also sent numerous emails with no response whatsoever.

Why this is really painful is that:

The terms of the passport application highlight that if you do not get your passport issued within one year from application date, your application will be canceled and you have to start all over.

Starting over means spending more money on flight and hotel reservations, including having to go through the difficulty of scheduling another interview, which can take months.

How is this not a scam? How is it a person’s fault that the embassy did not complete the passport process. Who should be liable for the new cost of application especially as it is the Embassy that has defaulted in getting the passport ready?

If anyone from the Nigerian Embassy in DC is reading this, please consider this an honest appeal to do your jobs so people are not stranded. A travel passport should be the least of our worries in this age and time.

toskin2003:

Congratulation on this breakthrough.
I have a similar adoption situation, my AOR is August 2018 and file was transferred to AVO February 2019. I got ADR in respect of the adoption in June 2019, Up till AVO haven't contacted me. Please I would appreciate if I can get a means to contact you to ask a few questions. or you can kindly reach me on 08071112201. Thank you and congratulations once again.

From my experience, you'll notice I offered to come in, in person, and explain the circumstances of the adoption.

Rather than leave them to speculate or delay continuously, I knew an interview would put an end to the wait, either favorably or unfavorably.

Secondly, it depends on the stage of your application. If you have passed eligibility, they have no other reason to hold you down. If you haven't passed eligibility, then they may be waiting for you to pass that completely, before they come at you again for clarification on the adoption.

LecturerIFE:


YaaaaY!!! Again, a massive congratulations to you and your family. Super happy for you. Your message "Bro, PPR 100%" still rings in my head every now and then.

What you put on here can never tell the full story... the efforts and all. But it feels good that everything was worth it at the end and your efforts didn't go unrewarded.

You see, good things happen to people who are good to others. Maybe if I had not sent that email to AVO as you suggested, I would still be waiting for PPR. Thank you for all you do.

Bigger exploits in Canada.

Thank you bro. Good thing it's all history now. We have to look forward and aim higher. Thanks a lot for all your support, it made the cross easier to carry.

@Eraytee, thank you for celebrating with us. We deeply appreciate you.

@Pandora1, thanks a lot. We dont even have enough words to express ourselves.

@bankyh1905 thanks for the score. More importantly, we hope that our experience will revitalize the can-do spirit in those who are already weary.

@Kiari, thank you so much.

@ewuoso2002 yes its adsense on the blog. I implemented it recently while waiting for PPR. I wanted to start earning CAD even before I land.

@godG Thank you for your prayers. We appreciate you.

@Jaybye Thanks a lot.

Interview Proper

Biological mother was called in. She was quizzed on why she abandoned her daughter. Asked questions about her new husband, and why he wouldn’t take this child in. Then other general questions about the child.

Biological father was quizzed in order to compare responses. I had no fear. I had warned both parents to stick to the truth. We didn;t rehearse anything. I told them to be very honest. I had not lied in my application, and if things don’t work out, let it be so. Bio father was also married to another woman who was not committed towards this child. There had been cases of abuse and mistrust, and he made them known. Biological father admitted he’d been having difficulty because he was yet to make it in the entertainment industry. Both parents agreed that they loved their child, but were in difficult positions and were unable to raise her properly.

My wife and I were called in for final judgement.

Note: words are not exact, but hold similar meanings

First question was why we adopted the child

I explained that we saw a kid that needed care and attention. My wife added that the kid needed a home and stability. And that’s why we brought her in.

Why did you adopt her now?

Because as Canadian enthusiasts, we must abide by Canadian laws. In Nigeria, you can hold a family meeting, and adopt a kid, and raise them as your own, but that would be strange in Canada. So we commenced the adoption because we wanted to confirm with Canadian laws.

She calls you uncle and aunt? She will never see you as her parents

Yes, we understand that. We cannot force her to call us mom and dad, and we are not discouraged by it. We want it to grow on her naturally.

What if your brother wants her back after she’s in Canada?

He can’t. We’ll hold a family meeting on his head. Besides he’s signed away his parental rights to me. We won’t give her back.

What if she’s crying that she wants to go back?

She won’t. She is a part of us now. She is our daughter, and we’ll make decisions that are best for her. Her bio father could not take care of her. We couldn’t let her rot, so we took her as our own.

You don’t speak well about your brother?

I’m being sincere. He does not have the means to raise her properly.

You’re not loyal to your brother?

I love my brother, but I am loyal to my family.

Your brother has been in the entertainment industry for 12 years, he’s doing well. (Scrolls through his facebook, pointing at pictures of banky W and other Naija celebrities.) I think he can raise her.

He can’t afford to raise her. Social media is not always reality. He is my brother, I know the truth, and I am telling you the whole truth.

Then be backlash!

You do not believe in your brother. It seems because you have more money you think that you can just take his kid or do how you please. The guy does his best, he visits her 3 times every year. Both parents say they really do love her. Why are you taking her away from them?

Before we picked her up, she wasn’t even living with any of them. She was alone with people who did not consider her to be a child.

I could not say so much about this, but my family has a tradition of spending xmas together every year. So we all meet up at home, and that may have been what she believed were paternal visits

You are adopting her just for her to have access to the opportunities and benefits in Canada?

No. She started living with us in 2017, even before we heard or had interest in the express entry. (Points at evidence of school fee payments from way back)

I cannot make a decision on this because both parents still love their daughter. They have emotional ties. There should be no ties whatsoever.

It’s hard for parents to not love their own child. The parents were sincere. Even those who abandon their kids at roadsides love them, but have to face the reality of not being able to provide for them.

Do you love this child like your own?

Yes, we do. She has as much rights as our kids do. If she does not go with us, it will cause a massive void especially for our 3-year old that is very fond of her. It will be like she lost a sister.

If she doesn’t go with you to Canada, where will she return to?

Silence, for like 2 minutes…

Response: We’re uncertain about what would happen to her. She will head back to the village, where she will not be recognized as a child. (I explained some other personal stuff)

I will consult with my boss before I make a decision on this, you may leave now.

Alright. Should we wait outside.

No. Just go. We’ll contact you.

Note: There were more questions than i can recall. But most were statements presented as facts. A lot of pictures and status updates were pulled from facebook. She noted that our adoption process was a sham because it was too fast. I told her i followed the process by the book. No cut corners. She also asked how much I paid my lawyer

It was sad. So we left. Everyone was moody, but we all told the truth. I had estimated a wait period of 2 weeks. If I didn’t read from them, communication would continue. I thought they would have us take out the child. I was scared already, the little English she could speak would all crumble into nothing. All the education, effort especially from my wife, The patience to raise a child who was strange to even use a normal toilet, or sleeping on a good bed.

Well, we told our truth. We consoled ourselves with that.

We went back to the hotel, rested for a while, visited the mall, enjoyed a treat at KFC, hotel again, then headed to the airport at 11 pm for our 2:40 am flight. We layered upon our infant to avoid her catching cold. We were cold ourselves, but the airport was quite interesting so we just passed time enjoying hot coffee and tasting things we’ve never had before.

Landed Lagos 5 am. Headed to MMA 2, boarded another flight to PH, landed PH 8 am. Got home around 9.

I got an email about an update in my account, and another one about a new message. I kept trying to log in but it continued in an endless loop, telling me to choose English or French. Battery was low, but I no send. I kept at it until it opened.

Downloaded the message, Opened it up.

Dear E,

YOUR IMMIGRANT VISA(S) APPEARS READY TO BE ISSUED.

PPR - Nov 28th.

No one was going to be left behind. Our good did not kill us at last!
I am grateful to Canada for finding us worthy despite all the complications.

I am extremey grateful to my wife for all the support. It was tough for her, especially with the pregnancy, and having to cope with traveling to Accra with an infant. I knew she could do it because she’s a super woman. I intend to buy her a Tesla in canada, but she’ll rather put the money in Educational Trust Fund. I marry beta wife from self contain to Canada. I am happy to be sharing this moment with her.

I’m giving out a special shoutout to Opeyemi from the AVO group. I wont say much about her because words can’t express how much I appreciate her support. She was with me all the way from the first day I joined the AVO group. The minute I ran into the MTN office for wifi coverage, all her messages just poured in. I’m not sure why she has human flesh, she should be an angel. She’s the reason I decided to document my experience. It would be wrong to not let people know about such person.

I also want to appreciate the sticker king of April/May 2019 AOR group. You wont believe a guy I have never met sent me financial support for the accra trip. He has been asking for my address so he can load me up with Musibau bags. How can somebody be concerned about me like this

My partner in money-making, LadyMarshall. Imagine admiring brilliance on nairaland, and ending up in thesame whatsapp group with thesame person. Faith knows everything, and she’s definitely not going to be your average everyday Canadian. Get her autograph now that you can.

The Akarakiris… I love una name die. I am extremely happy on the progress you have made so far. I know that lines will fall in pleasant places for you.

Amie, My AOR mate. She checks up on me like a thief in the night. She was my group Alobam. Thanks you for all the encouragement and support.

Foladearest (Adunnee), everything about you is dear. You are exceptional and very kind, Thank you for your love support.

The list is endless, Chigo, Rilwan, Acumen, Local Man David, Babs, The two Dibias, Quest, Frank, Lola, Toyeen, Engr Greg, Ingenim, Lawkamoa, HappyGirl, Lizzie, Gladys, Salamat, bamidele, Halima, lateefat, and many others. I thank you all for being a part of this story. We will continue to celebrate together, even unto greater heights.

For all those in AVO, I saw activity. Things will move for you very soon, Be encouraged.

Extras!

During my waiting time, I decided to start exploring income opportunities in Canada. I created a junk youtube channel which i will fully utilize when i’m ready. For now, it’s just gathering views so as to pass monetization.

I also researched on driving in canada and started a blog on it. At the moment, it seems like the blog can generate enough monthly income for my phone bills in canada. I am confident that by next year’s ending, the blog should be able to pay our monthly rent.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10652171_screenshot20191130at00_35_57_pnge5ea84a30afdb3fc659c7118aa572501

I’m adding this here to help us understand that the wait time can be invested into something profitable. Don’t just sulk.

The End!

Making A Move

By the end of August, I sent a mail to AVO, detailing the reason for adopting the child, and expressing that I wouldn’t mind appearing in person if further clarification was needed.

They responded that they would look into my request.

September 25th, We got an interview request to show up on the 31st of October. It was very tight because our baby was expected to arrive on October 21st. We thought we would be able to have the baby, and still make it to the interview on the 31st, we were already fed up with the long wait.

October 21st, baby no gree come-forth, so I sent them an email that we’ll not be able to make it on that date. I added all the pregnancy records and evidence of the EDD, as well as our next hospital appointment.

I got a response that we should let them know when we would be most comfortable for the interview.

Baby finally arrived 12:14 am on October 31st.

I sent them another email (On the same mail trail as a continuous conversation) that the baby had arrived, and that we were fully ready for the interview. I attached the baby’s birth certificate as evidence.

By day 6 of baby’s arrival, we had obtained an international passport for the infant. We had also received an ADR which were necessary documents to add the baby on file. No interview request.

Everything was set, but we could not conclude with medicals because babies cannot fly until they are at least, 2-weeks old.

While waiting, my wife suggested I mail them again that we were ready for the interview. I was hesitant because I had mentioned it before but they refused to address it in their last message. Our communication had been smooth so far, I didn’t want anything that would distort the flow, but then again, it was a good suggestion.

I sent them an email, attaching ALL the requested documents except the medical form. In its place, I attached an email from IOM about our reservation on the 20th. Then I concluded that I didn’t want to fly the baby from PH to Lagos and back to PH, and when we get an interview invitation, fly again from PH - Lagos - Accra - Lagos - Ph. I told them it would put stress on my baby, and my finances. 2 days later, they responded with another interview date.

On the 20th, we flew to Lagos, completed the medical examination for the infant, and uploaded all the files again right there with the free Wifi at IOM Lagos.

Monday, I received an email from AVO that they received my email but the attachments weren’t there. I had to resend everything again.

I left for Accra on Tuesday with my wife, our infant and the biological mother of the child and the whole entourage. The biological dad had gone ahead of us.

Document Wahala

On the day of the interview, we arrived on time. After waiting for about one hour, I was told that they had still not received the documents. I gave them the hard copies of the ones I had, but it wasn’t sufficient because I didn’t have a hard copy of the additional payment receipt. They were all inside my phone and laptop which I locked outside at the gate. I was permitted to go outside and resend them again.

Getting to my phone, I couldn’t browse. I forwarded the email twice and kept refreshing my outbox so it can move to ‘sent items’ but the thing wouldn’t go. #600 went down to 4 naira as MTN was just deducting airtime for data, yet no progress.

I approached some of the security guys at the high commission with an offer to pay them 20 cedis if they would just put on their hotspot for me to send the file successfully. None of them agreed. One of them pointed towards the left, telling me I would find an MTN office there. I thought it was close, so I started jogging there. Like 5 minutes, I was still jogging, until I finally saw an MTN office.

As i walked into the gate, i got a notification on my phone that free wifi was available, i quickly connected and made to sit on one of the couch in the customer relations area when the emails were finally sent successfully at the same second my butt touched the seat. I stood up immediately and headed out. Took a cab back to the High Commission, and went back in.

Dealing With The Wait

We had both stopped working for others by January of 2019, so we had so much time after AOR. We used the first month to watch some of the best shows on Netflix. It was bliss. We would finish a series with lots of seasons in just days. Go all over youtube, catch up with Igor Ryltsev and Wolo . Then BIL came. And then the second wait.

The second wait was more like a torture, people in my amazing group would occasionally get Ghost updates and PPR. We weren’t sure who was next, the anxiety was maddening, but we often doused the tension with gist about ‘red oil.’

First ghost update came up on June 20th. It was a sign of hope. At least, someone has seen our file. No wahala. Then silence.

By July, my wife was 5 months pregnant. Thanks to us not working and only watching Netflix . I raised a CSE to inform them that we would wish to have our baby in Canada. I reiterated that i respect the processing times and will completely understand if our file is unable to get a boost.

July 21st - Ghost Update
July 22nd - Ghost Update
July 23rd - Ghost Update
July 24th - Ghost Update

Every day, I would wake up expecting an email, but nothing would show up. At the time, Uncle Ralph was reigning, so I did him an email. He confirmed that my file was good, and had been forwarded to AVO for finalization.

Immediately, I knew what was up - Our adopted kid.

The Adoption Process

Remember as I stated earlier, If it wasn’t for EE, we would not have bothered with documentation. The kid had lived with us for 2 years as our daughter, and we were more interested in her quality of life than papers - but we finally commence the adoption procedure in February 2019, this was to conform with the laws of Canada.

The other option we had was to drop this child back. But she was just starting to speak basic English. Her safety and future would have no guarantees. There would be no one who would stand in to be FULLY responsible for her, so we took the risk to battle it out just as we would if she was ours.

The adoption was happening in the heat of the election. They would tell me the Perm Sec is not available, Commissioner is outside the country, Commissioner is going for campaign, Atiku is coming, no work today. They were bent on frustrating me. We scheduled a home visitation. They came to our house, inspected the child’s room, and were very impressed. It raised the bar on how much they would attempt to bill us. They started to make monetary demands. They needed transport money so they can go to Perm Sec’s house, and give him transport money to go to the Commissioner’s house and have the documents signed. I did the best I could, and we got the Commissioner’s approval.

We went to court. Completed the proceeding, and it was done - but for us to have been moved to AVO, problem dey be that.

kk

DISCLAIMER: Some parts of this post may be incoherent or lumped up in a confusing manner. It is as a result of the author’s current state of mind.


The genesis of our own story predates our interest in the express entry program. Way back in 2016, my wife and I were barely getting bye. I was a teacher then, and she had previously quit her job at a mismanaged hotel. Our house where we lived was paid for by the grace of MMM. Life was just about survival, but we were contented with it. We had never fancied being excessively rich. We took everything one day at a time.

We visited the village in December 2016 and noticed the ill-treatment that was meted out to one of my relatives by the stepmom. I don’t think she’s a bad person, but I just think she wasn’t paying as much attention to the child just as much as she was on her own biological child, so my wife and I decided to start making plans to take the neglected child as our own.

As a norm in Nigeria, people can often pick kids and raise them without the need for documentation, and this was our approach. We didn’t consider the need to do a formal adoption because there actually wasn’t a need for it. This may seem off point, but this incident forms the roots of our EE application.

In order to accommodate the needs of the new kid, and to take care of our own infant at the time, I started looking for side gigs. I had a blog that was useless despite all my attempts to make money off it, so I considered freelancing while my wife put her fashion skills to good use. While chasing money, I abandoned my M Sc. program.

Hitting The mark

Sometime around November 2017, I heard of Express Entry. I did all the maths I knew, but I could not seem to get the needed points at the time, so I decided to go back to school and conclude my MSc. Side gig started doing well, so I had more confidence that we’d be able to afford all the previous fees I had missed, and the ones I still had to pay in order to conclude the program. But there was still the issue of POF.

School was slow, strikes here and there, but I finally defended my project in May 2018, then another strike, then resumption, then the school Senate approved our results In September of 2018. ECA was a breeze with ICES, no need to bore you with that, but BC would not let me go.

I had thought writing would be my strongest point, but it turned out to be a nightmare after my second attempt landed me at 6.5. I realized soon enough that blogging and IELTS writing were entirely different games.

Thanks to beeodun, LadyJasper, Bee (On Whatsapp), Nnadi (not sure of his moniker), and Wasseynewest, I finally passed the IELTS with MOD. At this time, my side gig was going so well that I was almost thinking I should abort the EE process. My wife and I would pull in 7 figures every month. We bought a car, and even moved to a better house because we finally wanted to be comfortable for once. We couldn’t save much because of a lot of charity cases, but we had built our POF so much that it could go around twice. But we didn’t have rest of mind because of insecurity, so we still followed through with the EE.

Every other thing is what you usually read on here, ITA was April 3rd, AOR was April 16th, then we plagued ourselves with the wish for a ‘Speedy PPR’

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